Women's Suffrage Movement in the United States

Women in the United States had little status independent of the men in their family. The legal identity of a woman was fused with her husband's when she got married and thus he had complete control over all family interests, which included the women’s. No married woman was allowed to own property, write a will, sign a legal contract, dissolve her marriage or gain custody of her children. Though single women had some legal rights to own property and operate businesses; it was extremely hard for a woman to flout social convention and establish herself independently. 1 

The nineteenth-century movement for women's suffrage in the US, which was known in its age as woman suffrage, led to a constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote in 1920. 2 It was part of an effort to improve the political, economic, and human rights of women in the US. These progressive sentiments fueled the nineteenth-century reform campaigns like the abolitionist and temperance movements. 3 The suffrage movement gained strength in the mid-nineteenth century as feminists began to speak out to oppose a legal system, which defined women largely as the property of fathers and husbands. The reformers believed that full rights of citizenship for women, including the right to vote was a key component in ensuring full suffrage rights for women. After the end of slavery which came after the end of the Civil War of 1861–65, divisions emerged within the suffrage movement between those who saw an opportunity to link the voting rights of African American men with those of women and those who believed it was important to prioritize the rights of newly freed slaves. These divisions delayed women's suffrage for more than 40 years. Feminist activists however succeed in expanding women's economic rights in every state by 1900.Women had suffered for under these restrictive economic and cultural realities. 

The journey and the pioneers for women’s suffrage 

It took long years characterized by struggle and other persuasive and protest campaigns for women in the US to gain suffrage rights. In 1840, U.S. abolitionists Lucretius Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were denied seats at the World Anti-Slavery Conference attended only by men in London. This denial inspired them join with other women in launching a women's rights movement in the United States. The main issue that movement focused on was the economic status of women. The feminist activists’ work led to a number of legal reforms, beginning in Maine, which in 1844 became the first state to allow married women separate ownership of property. Consequently, in 1848, New York passed the Married Women's Property Act. The Married Women's Property Acting New York expanded women's legal rights and led to similar legislation in other states. 4 

Mott, Stanton, Mary Wright, Mary Ann McClintock and Jane Hunt discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of women, organized the first U.S. women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. Stanton drafted a statement titled ‘Declaration of Sentiments’ aimed at providing the purpose of the meeting which outlined the injustices that had been committed against women.3 5 The declaration was modeled after the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The document included twelve resolutions premised on the rights, privileges, and obligations of women, eleven of which passed easily. The resolution, which argued for woman suffrage, was a point of contention among participants. During the convention, Frederick Douglass, a well-known orator, abolitionist, and vigorous supporter of women’s rights, spoke in favor of women’s suffrage franchise. His passionate appeal helped garner support from the convention’s participants and over 100 of them signed the resolution making it to pass. 

In 1850 at the American Anti-Slavery Society meeting in Boston, members resolved to create a national convention for the formal consideration of women’s rights. Consecutively for 10 years delegates met annually at the National Women’s Rights Convention where a wide range of issues were discussed including equal wages, educational rights, women’s property rights, marriage reform, and women’s suffrage. 6 The conventions saw the passage of many resolutions by attendees. After the conventions, the attendees who were encouraged to go home and bring pertinent issues before their own state legislative bodies. 7 

The American Equal Rights Association was formed in 1866 by Stanton and Susan Anthony and was aimed at universal suffrage, regardless of race or gender. The group split however, over the issue of supporting the passage of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution, ratified in 1868 and 1870, which affirmed citizenship and voting rights for African American males newly freed from slavery while making no mention of women. Stanton and Anthony created the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869with a sole mission to secure woman suffrage. Susan B. Anthony, while on trial in 1873 for illegally attempting to vote, captured the sentiments of radical suffragists saying that if the American people established the false principle that United States citizenship does not carry with it the right to vote in every state in the Union. There would be no end to the cunning devices that would be applied to exclude citizens from the right of suffrage. African American women also created a concurrent movement for black women led by Sojourner Truth and Mary Church Terrell. These organizations worked side-by-side for women’s rights for years. However, it became increasingly clear that suffrage needed a unified front, thus in 1890, the movements joined forces to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association.1 8 

Progressively several western territories granted women the right to vote, including Wyoming in 1869, Utah in 1870, and Washington in 1883. The more established Southern and Eastern states however resisted. Supporters of suffrage continued to pursue an ongoing campaign of protests and persuasion into the twentieth century. Congress introduced a constitutional amendment prohibiting the denial of the right to vote based on gender in 1878, though it took 42 more years of activism before the amendment was finally passed as law. Feminists and suffragists continued to push for suffrage on many different fronts like organizing marches, pickets, hunger strikes, speaking tours and lobbying state by state to pass suffrage laws. United States entry into World War I interrupted the suffragists' efforts, however, the increasingly visible role of women in the workforce during the war contributed to popular support for women's right to vote. By June 1919 both houses of Congress had passed the Nineteenth Amendment, granting women the right to vote. On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19 th Amendment. 

Challenges of the women suffrage movement 

In addition to opposition faced by suffragists from the cultural and political obstacles of the 19 th century in the US, a few activists did not support the demand for suffrage held by most visionary feminists believed that without the right to vote; women could never wield political power, a few did not support the demand for suffrage. 9 The conservatively inclined women concurred with male politicians who argued that women were not equipped intellectually or emotionally to carry out the responsibility of voting. Some feminists feared that pushing for the vote would alienate male supporters. In addition, within the suffrage movement, factions developed as activists disagreed about their tactics and ultimate goals. Activists championing women suffrage rights campaigned tirelessly for the vote in addition to other issues of importance to women, including abolition of slavery and temperance. There was a little resentment however amongst the feminists, since many felt betrayed when a number of their colleagues refused to join them in demanding that the issue of economic freedmen be tied to the right to vote for women.2 10 

The American Civil War however, ended the National Women’s Rights Conventions. For the next several years, women’s rights activists focused their energies on the abolition of slavery and on issues of emancipation. At the American Anti-Slavery Society meeting in 1866 in Boston, Lucy Stone and Susan B. Anthony proposed for the formation of an organization where women and blacks could work together toward universal suffrage. Following the proposal, the American Equal Rights Association (AERA) was co-founded by Lucy Stone, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frederick Douglass. 11 News of the impending 15th Amendment granting free men of color the right to vote created a rift among members whereby, while many in American Equal Rights Association considered the amendment a victory, and were satisfied that things were moving in the right direction. Others were not happy since the 15th Amendment did not extend voting rights to women and was considered an injustice. American Equal Rights Association’s members were split in their support and thus the Association did not survive the differences. 

Victory for women suffrage movement 

The formation of National American Woman Suffrage Association proved to be an important step towards the progression of the national movement for women’s right to vote. The strategy employed by the newly formed organization was to push for the ratification of enough state suffrage amendments to force Congress to approve a federal amendment. However, between 1869 and 1896, only four states comprising of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho granted women the right to vote. 12 

A new generation of suffragists emerged at the beginning of the 20 th century. The suffragists were increasingly impatient with the seeming inactivity by the suffrage movement and with its inability to win suffrage for women. Harriet Stanton Blatch, Stanton’s daughter was highly instrumental in changing the movement’s tactics for garnering public attention and support to the adoption of protest methods, which were increasingly large scale, militant in nature and public. 13 Blatch introduced the suffrage parade to the US. Blatch and Alice Paul, another young, energetic suffragist and activist who picketed for women’s rights, both of whom had spent years in Britain during Britain’s suffrage movement helped develop and implement what are considered now to be the movement’s most radical strategies. The strategies included the act of picketing the White House during World War I, and encouraging protest via hunger strikes. The suffragists endured repeated arrests for their actions and suffered being force-fed in prison as punishment for hunger striking. 14 

In 1915, Paul and Burns broke away from National American Woman Suffrage Association after growing weary from the slow efforts by the suffrage movement to lobby individual states for suffrage that organization in 1913 and created the National Woman’s Party. National Woman’s Party focused its energies on the passage of a constitutional amendment ensuring women’s right to vote. 15 The party was relentless in its attempts to garner public and legislative attention for its cause. The party’s efforts were considered scandalous and unpatriotic at that time especially during US’ involvement in World War I. President Wilson’s unwillingness to acknowledge the protesters’ demands and what was seen as his disregard for the protesters’ health and safety when imprisoned, helped to sway public opinion in support of their cause. 

In 1915 Catt resumed leadership of National American Woman Suffrage Association and unveiled a strategy she termed as the “Winning Plan” aimed at building momentum for the federal amendment. The strategy focused on campaigning for suffrage on both the state and federal levels and working toward partial suffrage in the states resisting change. Catt cultivated President Wilson’s support making the President to urge Congress in 1916 to pass the amendment. The House of Representatives and the Senate passed the federal suffrage amendment in May 1919. The 19th Amendment was ratified on August 26, 1920, and women’s suffrage was achieved. 

Work Cited 

DuBois, Ellen Carol.  Woman suffrage and women’s rights . NYU Press, 1998. 

Jones, Ethel B. "The economics of woman suffrage."  The Journal of Legal Studies  20, no. 2 (1991): 423-437. 

Marsico, Katie.  Women's Right to Vote: America's Suffrage Movement . Marshall Cavendish, 2010. 

Mowery, Christine Elizabeth. "The Impact of National Resources on State Woman Suffrage Outcomes: A Re-Examination of the Resource Mobilization Framework." PhD diss., 2005. 

Stanton, E. C., Anthony, B, A., Gage, M. J. (1922). History of woman suffrage .Fowler & Wells, New York, USA. 

Weatherford, Doris.  A History of the American suffragist movement . Abc-Clio Incorporated, 1998.